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NOMOS Lambda 39 Samtschwarz Watch

There’s a video you’ll find on YouTube that I think sums up everything that’s right about the NOMOS 39 Samtschwarz Watch. To anyone who loves to read a slamming critique, here’s a little forewarning – this review is going to be very reverential. The distinct aesthetic that has become NOMOS’s trademark is manifest here, accentuated by the darker dial. What you might not notice is the refined subtleties and artistic detailing of theGlashütte fingerprint. Consider the galvanised, ruthenium-plated dial, designed to contrast with the thick, gleaming ring of an 18ct rose gold casing. Therein you’ll find a hand-wound NOMOS caliber DUW 1001 (uncovered below), ticking like a tiny, methodical applause for the virtuosos of engineering who set it in motion.

The tripartite arrangement of the face is captivating too, with elongated 20mm lugs, gold-plated hands and a curved sapphire glass, beautified with an anti-reflective coating. This is coupled with another circle of 39mm sapphire glass for the case-back, uncovering the inner live of this beautifully-wrought timepiece. To finish the masterpiece off, we have the preferable addition of a dark brown Horween cordovan strap, hand stitched and looped through a sophisticated buckle clasp. To us, this is the quintessential example of what modern watchmakers can achieve, through diligence, precision and compassion. This is genius encapsulated through unseen, untold hours of scrutiny and refinement. After all, simplicity is hard-won and an uncomplicated design is a triumph. Here you have the evidence of what can be made when a watch is washed clean of the clinging excesses that plague other inartistic wannabees. It is an expression of precise taste, creative conviction and intelligent ingenuity – in fact, the only thing that stops me from running out now to find this model is the price tag: £10,800.

For me the NOMOS 39 Samtschwarz Watch is one of the finest timepieces I've seen. I could pick no faults with the aesthetic, nor the engineering, so the only reason for that missing 0.1 is the considerable cost of £10,800. Otherwise, this would be the first 10 we'd handed out to a deserved leader in the world of horology.